NTVDM May Leak Memory When Opening/Closing COMM Ports

ID: Q151216

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 3.51
Microsoft Windows NT Server version 3.51

SYMPTOMS

A memory leak occurs in the Windows NT Virtual DOS Machine (NTVDM) used by Windows 16-bit (Win 16) applications when opening and closing COMM ports on Windows NT 3.51.

CAUSE

The Windows on Windows (WOW) support code for Win 16 applications allocates a write buffer whenever a Win 16 application opens a COMM port. The WOW was not releasing the write buffer when the Win 16 application closed the COMM port.

RESOLUTION

The WOW has been modified to release the write buffer when a COMM port is closed.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT version 3.51. This problem was corrected in the latest Windows NT 3.51 U.S. Service Pack. For information on obtaining the Service Pack, query on the following word in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (without the spaces):

S E R V P A C K

Additional query words: 3.51 prodnt

Keywords : nt16ap NTSrvWkst
Version : 3.51
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type :